Although my overall experience with the Persona series has been underwhelming (I played P3 Portable and thought it was 'meh'), the gushing reviews for Persona 4 Golden were too much to pass up. Besides, it's been ages since I played a JRPG that really hooked me. While I adored P3's story, characters, and social interactions, the combat and endless dungeon were mind-numbingly boring. Hopefully the combat is a little more compelling this time around.

I made the mistake of starting to watch Sons of Anarchy this weekend on Netflix. I've got 4 brand new games collecting dust because I simply cannot turn it off.

The little I've played (the first couple hours) seems quite good, although the combat and Persona mechanics feel like a carbon copy from Persona 3. That will probably be a good thing for most, but I felt that was the weakest part of P3. We'll see...

I have about 5 hours into the game and it's a lot of fun. I didn't play much of the PS2 version because I couldn't get over the graphics on my big screen. On the Vita it's gorgeous. I can't believe it takes 2 1/2 hours to get going, though.

I seem to remember the other Persona games having turn-based combat, this one doesn't. Am I... misremembering?

It is turn-based in that each character has a turn (including monsters). By default, you only control your character, but you can hit square while out in the world and change the battle tactics to have them all control manually (which I personally would hate). Maybe that is what you are remembering?

I seem to remember the other Persona games having turn-based combat, this one doesn't. Am I... misremembering?

It is turn-based in that each character has a turn (including monsters). By default, you only control your character, but you can hit square while out in the world and change the battle tactics to have them all control manually (which I personally would hate). Maybe that is what you are remembering?

I hear Atlus added a direct "FSTEAK" callout to one of the new S-Links in Persona 4 Golden.

This might be a good time to mention that anyone playing through this story for the first time should absolutely not read the "Himdaisy Persona 4" comic until they've finished the game. Seriously: there are major endgame spoilers right off the bat, and as funny as the strips are to fans, they won't mean anything to someone who hasn't played the content already.

So, I'm back in the Persona groove with this game. I finished up Persona 3 FES a while back, and that's after watching the Giant Bomb guys play P4 in their Endurance Run videos. I decided to play this new version for myself after I picked up a cheap used Vita.

Anyone else a persona fan? I'm kinda hoping Persona 5 is announced and released this year.